Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
CLOVIS — The Clovis city commission will look at pay and stipend increases for city employees totaling around $415,000 annually when it meets tonight at the Clovis-Carver Public Library’s North Annex.
The proposed increases are in three different requests on the agenda for the 5:15 p.m. meeting:
• A 2.5 percent increase for current city employees, not including City Manager Justin Howalt. This is the lion’s share of the cost at about $365,000.
• An increase in standby pay. This measure only affects certain city employees required to be on standby, with those employees working in animal control, police department, airport, wastewater, streets or traffic. The recommendation is for standby pay to be one hour of wages per day on standby. This would run about $37,000.
• An increase in the cell phone stipend from $35 per month, in place since 2006, to $50 per month. The current cost for the increase is $12,240 and would affect 68 city employees with cell phone stipends.
The money for all three measures would come from a “1/16th” gross receipts tax that was previously dedicated to the city landfill.
In other business on today’s agenda:
• A transfer of liquor license ownership has been requested for the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Clovis, due to a change in upper-level ownership.
• Appointment of a voting delegate and an alternate from within the commission for the upcoming New Mexico Municipal League conference Aug. 29-31 in Roswell.
• An agreement between the city and Plains Regional Medical Center to provide at least $3.3 million in uncompensated care annually to low-income individuals.
• Presentations for Sunday’s “Bikers Against Bullying Day,” July yards of the month and Don David for his service on the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The biker day is in connection to a separate agenda item seeking approval of the sixth annual bully awareness ride that would start at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.
